ASIATODAY.ID, WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on October 29, 2025 has released the results of the 2025 Financial Access Survey (FAS), along with its flagship report “Financial Access Survey: Fintech, a Catalyst for Financial Services Access, Innovation and Growth.”
The report highlights how financial technology (fintech) is transforming global finance by expanding financial inclusion, driving innovation, and fueling sustainable economic growth.
Since its inception in 2009, the Financial Access Survey has become the world’s most comprehensive annual database on financial access and usage. The 2025 edition covers 163 economies (up from 158 in 2024) and includes 121 data series spanning from 2004 to 2024. The database continues to evolve alongside financial innovation—tracking digital finance, fintech lending, and gender-disaggregated data critical to inclusive economic development.
Digital Financial Services Surge Across Emerging Economies
The IMF report records an extraordinary rise in digital financial transactions, led by mobile money, internet banking, and fintech platforms. In emerging and developing economies, the number of digital transactions per adult has surged from 55 in 2017 to 251 in 2024.
This growth has been especially strong in Sub-Saharan Africa, where mobile money has brought millions of unbanked individuals into the formal financial system. Mobile money accounts are now expanding faster than traditional bank deposits and, in many countries, have even surpassed them.
Digital payments have also revolutionized remittances—digital remittance flows climbed from 13% in 2019 to 46% in 2024—reducing costs and increasing speed for migrant workers sending money home.
Fintech Lending Expands Credit Access for Underserved Populations
Beyond digital payments, fintech lending is reshaping access to credit for small businesses and individuals traditionally excluded from formal finance.
According to the IMF report, supported by data from Statista and CGAP, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) transactions reached $350 billion in 2024, while peer-to-peer (P2P) and marketplace lending totaled $62 billion.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, fintech lending to micro and small enterprises (MSEs) surged from 13% to 88% of total fintech funding between 2020 and 2023. In some advanced economies, fintech firms have even overtaken traditional banks in issuing unsecured personal loans, reflecting fintech’s growing influence in global credit markets.
Challenges: Literacy Gaps and Rising Financial Risks
Despite fintech’s rapid rise, the IMF warns that digital financial inclusion is uneven.
The FAS 2025 data reveal a strong correlation between financial literacy and the adoption of digital financial services. Countries with stronger digital skills record higher usage, while those lacking education and infrastructure face heightened risks of over-indebtedness, fraud, and identity theft.
Gender disparities persist: women’s deposit amounts stand at 64% of men’s, and loan balances at just 46%. Products such as BNPL can also obscure the real cost of borrowing due to limited regulation and credit reporting.
The IMF emphasizes that financial education, consumer protection, and cybersecurity are essential to ensure that fintech’s benefits outweigh its risks.
IMF Expands Fintech Data Coverage to Close Global Information Gaps
To bridge the data gap in the fast-evolving fintech sector, the IMF’s Financial Access Survey team launched pilot initiatives in 2024–2025, testing over 100 new fintech indicators across e-wallets, e-money, mobile-money-enabled loans, neobanks, equity crowdfunding, and peer-to-peer lending.
Countries including Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Kosovo, and Saudi Arabia participated in these pilots, setting new benchmarks for fintech data collection. Selected indicators will be integrated into future FAS releases, enhancing policymakers’ ability to monitor and promote fintech-enabled financial inclusion.
These initiatives align with the G20 Data Gaps Initiative-3 (DGI-3)—particularly Recommendation 12 on fintech inclusion—marking a major step forward in understanding how digital finance can drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth. (AT Network)
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